Helena - The Best of Shakespeare's Women?

Helena – The best of Shakespeare’s Women?

I’ve have read Shakespeare many times. I have seen characters come and go, some die and some live, all for the good of the plot. And in almost every Shakespeare play, there is a woman. Scratch that, in every Shakespeare Play, there is a woman. There are some we have loved more than others, and some we could do without. But none of these plays could have been possible without the female characters. And one thing I have noticed since reading “All’s Well That Ends Well” is that Helena is the first actual strong character female I’ve seen in Shakespeare.

Let’s go down the list of some of Shakespeare’s more famous women. First, Juliet from “Romeo and Juliet.” We’ve all heard the tale before: boy meet girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Families want to keep boy and girl apart. Girl fakes death, but Boy thinks it’s real. Boy kills himself and girls dies soon after. Anyway, Juliet in my opinion is not that strong of a female character. Sure she’s in love with Romeo, and yes it is their deaths that eventually unite their families, but she’s so hung up about being apart from Romeo that she is willing to kill herself instead of not being with him. Now, in my opinion, a stronger character would figure out a way to be with Romeo in secret, like running away together behind their families back. Instead they leave fate up to this risky plan. Not very strong-willed in my book.

Next, there is Desdemona form Shakespeare’s Othello. Now, in this story Desdemona is very much in love with her husband, Othello. And when Othello thinks she is fooling around, she denies everything. But her husband goes as far as to beat her do get her to admit these lies he has been told. Now, getting hit is in no way Desdemona’s fault. But I think a stronger female character would have put her foot down and left Othello after his actions.

Then there is Lavinia, Titus’s daughter in Titus Andronicus. She herself is raped and attacked out of revenge by enemies of her father. Now, Lavinia is treated like how men saw women in the Roman period, less than nothing. And yet, despite everything, her father somehow makes it about him. Lavinia just gave up after her attack. Now, I wouldn’t blame her. I mean, what would you feel like doing after that happened to you? But still, she managed to write out the names of her rapists with a stick in her mouth, I feel like she could have done more too.

Helena is different. She is a girl determined to get what she wants. All of these obstacle and diversions are thrown at her, and yet she continues on her path. She does not give up hope, does not get all suicidal over her situation, and is willing to stand up for herself.

I don’t want to brag, but I think Shakespeare finally got one right.